Thursday, April 4, 2013

Quote
from Dr. Harry: "Who
is truly free, and not a slave to themselves or other?""Why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you
step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another,
until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system
presided over by criminals and drunks?" - Die Weisse Rose (The
White Rose), Resistance Leaflet 3, 1942.

From James:
"
Experience has shown that even under the best forms of Government, Those
entrusted with power, have in time, and by slow operations perverted it into to
tyranny." (Believe Thomas Jefferson )

Parsha
Shemini

The
Holy Zohar starts this Parsha with how much delight HASHEM takes in man. So why
then did he let the two sons of Aaron die? For this we have to go back to the
design and purpose for man in creation. Man was created in the “Image of G-D”.
Man was created male and female attached together. It was for this reason that
when the sons of Aaron entered the Kodesh HaKodashim they were consumed by fire
because I abstracted that Ish (Aleph
Yud Shin) aka man without Isha (Aleph Shin Hey) aka woman is missing the Yud Kay
or G-D’s name and the only thing that remains is Aish or fire. Gematria was told
to me in a private Shalom Beis lecture by Rabbi Yacov Cohen Zal some 42 years
ago. A Cohain not only as the Pshat goes should not serve the Mizbayach drunk or
in the holiest of places unless he is married. For the Shechina rests only upon
a married man! An unmarried man can receive sparks of holiness but is incomplete
without the complete union of husband and wife as the original creation.

9:1 And it came to pass
on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of
Israel; 2 and he said unto
Aaron: 'Take thee a bull-calf for a sin-offering, and a ram for a
burnt-offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. 3 And unto the children of Israel thou
shalt speak, saying: Take ye a he-goat for a sin-offering; and a calf and a
lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt-offering; 4 and an ox and a ram for
peace-offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meal-offering mingled with
oil; for to-day the LORD appears unto you.' …

10:1
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put
fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the
LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 And there came forth fire from
before the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said unto Aaron: 'This is
it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be
sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.' And Aaron held his
peace. … 8 And the LORD spoke
unto Aaron, saying: 9 'Drink no
wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of
meeting, that ye die not; it shall be a statute forever throughout your
generations. 10 And that ye may
put difference between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the
clean; 11 and that ye may teach
the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by
the hand of Moses.'

…

As
Moshiach approaches (see Gog and Magog news below) I have taken a updated
intelligence briefing along with a quote from Devorah L.

However,
without Shabbos Observance, Kashrus and Family Purity it will be harder and
harder to survive.

Therefore,
this year I devote more time to the Kosher Animals, Fish and Birds listed below
so as to reawaken our knowledge.

11:1 And the LORD spoke
unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them:

to
say to them: [Whom does “to them” refer to?] The Lord said that [Aaron] should
tell Eleazar and Ithamar. Or perhaps it means only to tell the Israelites?
However, when [Scripture] says (verse 2),“Speak to the children of Israel,”
speaking to Israel is already mentioned. So how do I understand “to say to
them”? [That Aaron was to say] to his sons, to Eleazar and to Ithamar [who, in
turn, were to tell the children of Israel the laws that follow]. — [Torath
Kohanim 11:61]

This is
one instance that the tradition was missing from Rashi and he was uncertain to
whom was Moshe supposed to speak to.

2 Speak unto the
children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which ye may eat among
all the beasts that are on the earth.

Speak
to the children of Israel: God made them all [namely Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, and
Ithamar] equal messengers for [relaying] the following speech. [And why did
Aaron and his sons deserve this special honor?] Because they all equally
remained silent, accepting the Omnipresent’s decree [to put Nadab and Abihu to
death] with love.

For
when it came to teaching Kashrus, it was important to publicize the laws quickly
and equally in all of Am Yisrael.

There
are two ways of looking at Kashrus one is negative. You cannot eat so and so but
this is not the way of the Torah. The way of the Torah like in Gan Eden with the
forbidden tree is what you can eat. Chava was set upon by the snake with the
idea why it was forbidden and to deceive her. I don’t eat bear, rattlesnake,
elephant, whale, monkeys, rhinoceros, mosquitos, shellfish, etc. not because it
does not taste good or for health reasons but rather because the Torah told me
what is good to eat. I can sort of hear Mama London telling the Yeshiva
Bochurim, “Drink your juice it’s very good for you!”

These
are the creatures: [The word חַיָּה, “living creature”] denotes חַיִּים, “life.”
[In the context of this passage, which sets out the clean and unclean creatures,
the meaning is expounded as follows:] Since the Israelites cleave to the
Omnipresent and are therefore worthy of being alive, accordingly, God separated
them from uncleanness and decreed commandments upon them [so that through these
commandments Israel would live]. For the other nations, however, He prohibited
nothing. This is comparable to a physician who went to visit a patient [who was
incurable, and allowed him to eat anything he wished, whereas when he went to
his patient who was to recover, the physician imposed restrictions on his diet
that would ensure that the recoverable patient would live. So too, the nations
and Israel…], etc. as is found in the Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma (6 These are the
creatures: [When the verse says “These are…,” the word זֹאת] teaches us that
Moses would hold up an animal and show it to the Israelites, saying, “This one
you may eat,” and “This one you may not eat.” “You may eat the following!”
(verse 9) even with the creatures of the water-he held up [one] of every species
and showed it to them. And likewise with birds [as stated in verse 13], “you
shall hold these in abomination….” Similarly with creeping creatures,
(שְׁרָצִים) [as stated in verse 29], “these are unclean….” - [Torath Kohanim
11:62] These are the creatures…among all the animals: [The word חַיָּה, although
usually denoting an undomesticated animal, such as a deer, also has the meaning
of “living (חַי) creatures” in general; the word בְּהֵמָה, usually denoting
domesticated animals like cattle, also has the meaning of large land animals, or
mammals. We see this in our verse, for it says here, "These are the creatures
(חַיָּה) that you may eat among all the animals (בְּהֵמָה) on earth, thus,]
teaching that [the term] בְּהֵמָה is included in [the more general term] חַיָּה.
- [Torath Kohanim 11:66; and see Rashi Chul. 70b]

3 Whatsoever parts the
hoof, and is wholly cloven-footed, and chews the cud, among the beasts, that may
ye eat.

Recently
there was a scandal in Europe about horse meat. A horse and donkey are also more
passive animals as they eat grass but don’t ruminate like cows, sheep, deer and
goats but they do not part the hoof. So if you hear a Jew telling you that the
animals that are permitted to eat are tame animals it is more than that. It is
animals that are defined by the ALL MIGHTY as permissible via the foot and the
cud.

which
has a cloven: Heb. מַפְרֶסֶת. [Although resembling the following word, פַּרְסָה,
the word, מַפְרֶסֶת, is to be understood] as the Targum [Onkelos] renders it:
סְדִיקָא, “split.” hoof: Heb. פַּרְסָה, plante in French [meaning “ sole” or
“hoof.” Thus, מַפְרֶסֶת פַּרְסָה means: “split or cloven hoof”]. that is
completely separated into double hooves: Heb. וְשֹׁסַעַת שֶׁסַע [meaning that
the hoof] is completely separated [i.e., split] from top to bottom, into two
nails, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders it: וּמְטַלְפָא טִילְפִין, meaning “split
into hooves” [i.e., split into two hoof sections,] because there are animals
whose hooves are split at the top, but are not completely split and separated
[into two hoof sections], since the bottom [sections of the hoof] are connected.
which brings up its cud: It brings up and regurgitates the [ingested] food from
its stomach, returning the food to its mouth, in order to thoroughly crush it
and grind it thoroughly. cud: Heb. גֵּרָה. This is its name. [I.e., the name of
the food that an animal regurgitates.] It possibly stems from the root [נגר, “to
drag” or “flow,” as in the verse] “and as water which has flowed (הַנִּגָּרִים)
” (II Sam. 14:14), for the regurgitated food “flows back” to the mouth. Targum
[Onkelos] renders the word גֵּרָה as פִּישְׁרָא, dissolved, since, through its
being regurgitated, the food is dissolved and melted. among the animals: Heb.
בַּבְּהֵמָה, lit. in the animal. This is an extra word from which to derive that
[if a pregnant animal is slaughtered properly,] the fetus inside its mother’s
innards is permitted [to be eaten]. — [Torath Kohanim 11:67] that one you may
eat: but not an unclean animal. However, is this [negative inference] not
already included in the [explicit] prohibition [stated in verse 4, “…you must
not eat…”]? Notwithstanding, [this positive statement is included here] so that
[one who eats an unclean animal] transgresses a positive and a negative
commandment [i.e., a negative inference of a positive commandment]. — [Torath
Kohanim 11:69]

4 Nevertheless these
shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the
hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but parts not the hoof, he is unclean
unto you.

These
animals ruminate but don’t have cloven hooves. Now the family of uncle Yishmael
ben Avraham love camel milk and it is liked in Belgium for improving their milk
chocolates and camel meat can feed the whole Arab family clan for it is a large
animal. However, the Torah forbids this along with the badger and rabbits (which
the Germans consider very tasty with pepper). We are a holy nation and therefore
must refrain from them as the Torah did not permit them to
us.

5 And the rock-badger,
because he chews the cud but parts not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. 6 And the hare, because she chews the
cud but parts not the hoof, she is unclean unto you.

Of all
the species of animals in the world only these three ruminate and do not have
cloven hooves – Rabbi Yacov London TzZal.

7 And the swine,
because he parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, but chews not the cud, he is
unclean unto you. 8 Of their
flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean
unto you.

This is
the only animal in the world that stretches out its hooves in front of it when
it rests as if to say I am kosher but swallows its food – Rabbi Yacov London.

You
shall not eat of their flesh: I know only [that] these [animals possessing one
sign of cleanness are prohibited to be eaten]. How do we know that any other
unclean animal, which has no sign of cleanness altogether [may also not be
eaten]? Here, we can infer from a kal vachomer [i.e., an inference from minor to
major]: If those animals that have part of the signs of cleanness are
prohibited, [how much more so are those animals that lack both signs of
cleanness!]- [Torath Kohanim 11:69] of their flesh: The [Scriptural]
prohibition applies [only] to the “flesh” [of an unclean animal], but not its
bones, sinews, horns, or hooves. — [Torath Kohanim 11:74] and you shall not
touch their carcasses: One might think that Israelites are prohibited to touch a
carcass. Scripture, however, says, “Say to the kohanim …[(a kohen) shall not
defile himself for a (dead) person among his people]” (Lev. 21:1); thus, kohanim
are prohibited [from defiling themselves by human corpses], but ordinary
Israelites are not prohibited. Now a kal vachomer can be made: Since in the more
stringent case of defilement by a human corpse, only kohanim are prohibited,
then in the more lenient case of defilement by animal carcasses, how much more
so [should only kohanim be prohibited! If so,] what does Scripture mean by, “you
shall not touch their carcasses”? [It means that Israelites may not touch animal
carcasses] on the Festivals [since at those times they deal with holy sacrifices
and enter the Temple]. This is what [the Sages] said: A person is obligated to
cleanse himself on Festivals. - [R.H. 16b, Torath Kohanim 11:74]

9 These may ye eat of
all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in
the seas, and in the rivers, them may ye eat.

I heard
from Rabbi Eliezer Weissfish Shlita and others that if the fish has scales it
also has fins. There is supposedly an eel that has scales in the water but drops
them when it reaches land. However, since we do not see before us the scales, we
cannot permit it no matter how tasty it is. We also have Oral Torah which tells
us that a fish that gives live birth is also forbidden this would include
guppies, whales, dolphins, etc.

fins:
Heb. סְנַפִּיר. These are [the wing-like appendages] with which it swims
[namely, fins]. scales: Heb. קַשְׂקֶשֶׂת. These are the scales that are affixed
to it, as it is said: “And he was wearing a coat of mail (קַשְׂקַשִּׂים) ” (I
Sam. 17:5), [lit. armor of scales]. — [Chul. 66b]

10 And all that have
not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that swarm in the
waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are a
detestable thing unto you,

My wife
and I were visiting San Diego and there was a store with live lobsters in tanks.
Besides the stench the creature looked detestable to my wife and I saw sea
horses and shrimps swimming in the waters of Eilat by the fish observatory as
creatures of HASHEM they looked nice and are food for other creatures but to us
detestable.

creeping
creatures: שֶׁרֶץ.
Anywhere this [term] appears [in Scripture], it denotes a low creature that
slithers and moves on the ground.

11 and they shall be a
detestable thing unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, and their carcasses
ye shall have in detestation.

And
they shall be disgusting: [The statement is repeated] to prohibit their mixtures
[i.e., if the flesh of an unclean water creature was mixed with food of another
type,] if there is enough [unclean flesh] to impart its taste [to the mixture].
— [See Torath Kohanim 11:82] [You shall not eat] of their flesh: [Only their
flesh is prohibited,] but one is not prohibited [to eat] the fins or the bones.
— [Torath Kohanim 11:82] and their dead bodies you shall hold in disgust: [This
clause comes] to include midges (יַבְחוּשִׁין) that he has filtered out [of
water or other liquids. One may ingest these creatures together with water, but
once they have been separated from their original source, they are prohibited].
יַבְחוּשִׁין are moucherons in French, midges. — [Torath Kohanim
11:83]

12 Whatsoever hath no
fins nor scales in the waters, that is a detestable thing unto you.

Although
they are part of HASHEM’s creatures and play a role in the food chain from
creation, as a Jew they should be detestable to me. Israel has a kosher version
of “shrimps” which imitate the taste and McCormick makes Bac N’ Bits in the
States to imitate Bacon so that we do not miss out on tasty things but again the
fish or animal in the original form is spiritually damaging to Am Kadosh.

Any
[(creature)] that does not have [fins and scales in the water is an abomination
for you]: What does Scripture come to teach us here? [In verse 10, Scripture has
already stated, “any (creatures) that do not have fins and scales…are an
abomination for you.” However, without this verse] I might think that [a water
creature] is permitted only if it brings up its signs [of cleanness, namely fins
and scales,] onto dry land; but if [it sheds them in the water, how do we know
[that the creature is still permitted]? Scripture therefore, says here, “Any
[creature] that does not have fins and scales in the water….,” but if it had
them while in the water, even if it shed them in its emergence [onto dry land],
it is permitted. — [Torath Kohanim 11:84]

13 And these ye shall
have in detestation among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are a
detestable thing: the great vulture, and the bearded vulture, and the osprey;

They
shall not be eaten: Heb. לֹא יֵאָכְלוּ. [Scripture is telling us that] one may
not feed them to minors. [We derive this from the passive voice, “be eaten,”]
meaning that these birds may not “be eaten” through you. Or perhaps it is not
so, but [it is telling us that in addition to not eating them,] one may not
derive any benefit from them? Scripture, therefore, states: “you shall not eat
(לֹא תֹּאכְלוּ),” (Deut. 14:12) [in the active voice to teach us that] one is
prohibited to eat them but permitted to derive benefit from them. Now, in every
[mention of] birds where Scripture says לְמִינָהּ, לְמִינוֹ, לְמִינֵהוּ [“ to
its…species,” it does so because] within that species, there are some that
resemble each other neither in appearance nor in name, but they are
[nevertheless] all one species.

14 and the kite, and
the falcon after its kinds; 15
every raven after its kinds; 16
and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its
kinds;

the
sparrow hawk: הַנֵּץ,
esprevier in Old French, [epervier in modern French]. [Note that, according to
some editions of Rashi , the reading is ostor, which is translated by Greenberg
as goshawk, autour in modern French. This is corroborated by other editions that
render הַשָּׁחַף in verse 16 as esprevier..]

17 and the little owl,
and the cormorant, and the great owl;

the
gull: Heb. הַשָּׁלָ Our Rabbis explained: “The שָׁלָ is a bird that draws up
(שׁוֹלָה) fish out of the sea” (Chul. 63a). And this is the meaning of Onkelos’
translation [of שָׁלָ]: וְשַׁלֵינוּנָא, “fish catcher.” The owl… and the little
owl: Heb. כּוֹס וְיַנְשׁוּף. These are chouettes [in French, i.e., “birds”] that
shriek at night, which have cheeks like those of a human. There is another
[bird] similar to it called hibou [in French].

18 and the horned owl,
and the pelican, and the carrion-vulture; 19 and the stork, and the heron after
its kinds, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

There
are 4 signs of Kosher Birds but these birds and the mammal bat are singled out
as being non-kosher. These birds eat carrion and we see from the dream of the
cook in Yosef that the birds were pecking upon him. Note quail, turkey, chicken,
pigeons, etc. are not mentioned here as permissible it is later on in the
Torah.

20 All winged swarming
things that go upon all fours are a detestable thing unto you.

Essentially
all insects except the ones mentioned below.

Among
all the flying insects: These
are the delicate and small creatures that crawl on the ground, like flies,
hornets, mosquitoes, and locusts.

21 Yet these may ye eat
of all winged swarming things that go upon all fours, which have jointed legs
above their feet, wherewith to leap upon the earth;

on
four: on four legs. above
its [regular] legs: [“Above,”
meaning high up on the creature’s body, namely] near its neck, it has two
leg-like extensions besides its [regular] four legs. When it wishes to fly or
hop from the ground, it bolsters itself firmly with these appendages and flies.
[In our regions,] we have many of this sort [of flying creature] called
langouste [in Old French] (sea-locusts), but we are no [longer] proficient [in
identifying] which ones [are clean and which are unclean. And what is the
specific problem we have with this identification?] There are four signs of
cleanness enumerated regarding these creatures: a) four legs, b) four wings, c)
קַרְסוּלִים, which are the jointed leg-like extensions described above, and d)
wings that cover the majority of its body (Chul. 59a; Torath Kohanim 11:91). All
of these signs are indeed found in the creatures among us today, but some
[creatures] have long heads and some do not have tails, [according to Maharsha
(Chul. 66a), the reading is, “and some have tails”] and they must bear the name
חָגָב (Chul. 65b). Concerning this [requirement namely, which type is officially
called חָגָב and which is not], we no longer know how to distinguish between
them

22 even these of them
ye may eat: the locust after its kinds, and the bald locust after its kinds, and
the cricket after its kinds, and the grasshopper after its kinds.

I had a
locust on my property Motzei Chag which the southeast wind brought up from Sinai
and Talmon at a higher elevation than I had even a few more. In Arab countries
they are a delicacy to eat. Yemenite Jews eat them to this day. As westerners
most of us would pass on this. However, the French eat anything that is not tied
down.

23 But all winged
swarming things, which have four feet, are a detestable thing unto you.

This
includes flying lizards.

.But
any [other] flying insect [that has four legs is an abomination for you]: [In
verse 20, it already says, “Any flying insect that walks on four is an
abomination for you.” Why is this repeated here?] It comes to teach us that if
it has five [legs], it is clean.

24 And by these ye
shall become unclean; whosoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean
until even. 25 And whosoever
bears aught of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until
the even.

Of any
of these animals, birds, fish and insects that fall within these categories. Not
mentioned are snails, crabs, octopus, squid and shell fish specifically but they
are included.

And
anyone who carries their carcass: Any place in Scripture that mentions טֻמְאַת
מַשָּׂא [uncleanness acquired by carrying (נוֹשֵׂא) an unclean item], it is more
stringent than טֻמְאַת מַגָּע [uncleanness acquired by touching (נֹגֵע) an
unclean item], insofar as it requires immersion of the garments [in a mikvah, in
addition to the immersion of the person].

26 Every beast which
parts the hoof, but is not cloven footed, nor chews the cud, is unclean unto
you; every one that touches them shall be unclean. 27 And whatsoever goes upon its paws,
among all beasts that go on all fours, they are unclean unto you; whoso touches
their carcass shall be unclean until the even.

[Any
animal that has] a cloven hoof that is not completely split: for instance, a
camel, whose hoof is split on the top, but on the bottom it is connected. Here
[Scripture] teaches you that the carcass of an unclean animal defiles, while in
the section at the end of this parashah (verse 39), [Scripture] explains [that a
carcass of] a clean animal [defiles as well. However, Scripture deals with these
separately since there is a difference between the two: in the case of a clean
animal, its carcass defiles only if it dies, but if it was slaughtered properly,
even if it was a טְרֵפָה, i.e., it had a fatal disease or injury, its carcass
does not defile. This is derived from verse 39, which reads, “If an animal that
you (normally) eat dies…” i.e., only when it dies, its carcass
defiles].

28 And he that bears
the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even; they
are unclean unto you.29 And these are they which are
unclean unto you among the swarming things that swarm upon the earth: the
weasel, and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kinds, 30 and the gecko, and the
land-crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand-lizard, and the chameleon.

Chabad
translates this as follows: The
hedgehog, the chameleon, the lizard, the snail, and the mole. He goes according
to what Rashi wrote of old French and in this one case the modern Hebrew has
hedgehog as KIPOD
and mole as HAVHAVFERET
which
obviously is not is not the Hebrew written here. It could be that Rashi had
never heard of a gecko or chameleon and therefore based on his Rabbanim in
Europe took their tradition. *(See
below regarding the size of an olive)

31 These are they which
are unclean to you among all that swarm; whosoever doth touch them, when they
are dead, shall be unclean until the even.

Now get
a list of detestable creatures to eat of the rodent family and they defile food
if their carcasses come in contact with food.

32 And upon whatsoever
any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be
any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be,
wherewith any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean
until the even; then shall it be clean. 33 And every earthen vessel whereinto
any of them falls, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean, and it ye shall break.
34 All food therein which may be
eaten, that on which water cometh, shall be unclean; and all drink in every such
vessel that may be drunk shall be unclean. 35 And everything whereupon any part
of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it
shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. 36 Nevertheless a
fountain or a cistern wherein is a gathering of water shall be clean; but he who
touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37 And if aught of their carcass fall
upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean. 38 But if water be put upon the seed,
and aught of their carcass fall thereon, it is unclean unto you.39 And if any beast, of which ye may
eat, die, he that touches the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the even.
40 And he that
eats of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even;
he also that bears the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean
until the even.

We must
avoid them. Since we don’t have Tuma today, one can play with a pigskin football
but preferable not on Shabbos or Yom Tov as it is
unclean.

41 And every swarming
thing that swarms upon the earth is a detestable thing; it shall not be eaten.
42 Whatsoever
goes upon the belly, and whatsoever goes upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many
feet, even all swarming things that swarm upon the earth, them ye shall not eat;
for they are a detestable thing.

Snakes
of all sorts, worms, multiples, centipedes, etc.

43 Ye shall not make
yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, neither shall ye make
yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled
thereby.

This
include beetles, frogs and other creatures not mentioned.

44 For I am the LORD your God;
sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye
defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moves upon the earth.

You
should not eat them as you are holy and eating worms, roaches, etc. which is
done on reality TV is a detestable act.

45 For I am the LORD
that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore
be holy, for I am holy.

I am
Kadosh and you are MY people therefore you too shall be
Kadosh.

46 This is the law of
the beast, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moves in the
waters, and of every creature that swarms upon the earth; 47 to make a difference between the
unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the
living thing that may not be eaten.

The
Zohar distinguishes Am Yisrael as coming from the right side and non-converts
and non-Jews from the left side. The right side of the spiritual forces is
always positive even if a person sins and the left side is generally negative
unless a person gives charity, saves lives and does many good deeds. Both can
get into heaven but the non-Jew has a lot of spiritual negativity to overcome
and the eating of non-kosher and unclean animals hinders him/her even if
permitted to them as their spirit has more to overcome. The right side is to be
a light unto the nations.

Olive’s
bulk

*We
have an olive’s bulk of corpse causing Tuma of the dead and we have to eat an
olive’s bulk for Shabbos. However, the large size of almost an egg came from
northern Europeans who had never seen an olive. The Rabbis of Eretz Yisrael,
Italy, Spain and the other Sephardim have a tinier Shiur not like close to the
size of an egg. For Pessach the Sephardic way is more lenient on the elderly but
stringent on Jews that might taste by accident a strip of bacon. For according
to the Ashkenazim one could accidentally eat a strip of bacon and be exempt from
an offering while according to the Sephardim with the smaller olive it would be
next to nothing. My recommendation don’t go out and try to sin. As told to me by
David Cohen of Chashmonayim in the name of Rabbi Itamar Auerbach Shlita.

March
27, 1944 from Marnie H. THIS
DAY IN HOLOCAUST HISTORY, 1944: As the Red Army approached Riga, Kovno and
Vilna, Germany picked up the pace with actions against the surviving inhabitants
of the ghettos. Children everywhere were being seized and driven off to their
death. "The Children's Action" in Kovno resulted in the death of thousands of
children under the age of 17. Most of them were shot. In order to spare their
children from such horrors, some parents poisoned them. In Lodz, a mother killed
her severely handicapped boy with a lead pipe across the head instead of
allowing him to meet his fate with the Germans.

It
happened one Yom Kippur base on a story from “The Torah as our
Guide”

There
is the story of a Jew brought up by Goyim who decided to check out his heritage.
He could have inherited wealth from the landowner and noble who had taken him in
and had brought him up Catholic as his own son. However, he came across
something his parents had left him. A Siddur, Machzor, Tephillin and Tallis and
he realized that he was Jewish. He began to search the Jews in the Neighborhood
and was told that they were travelling to the area of the Baal Shem Tov. The
youth set out on the long journey after he saw that the Jews had left the area.
He came to the Schul of the Baal
Shem Tov on Yom Kippur in the afternoon. The usually joyous Baal Shem Tov was
worried as there was a decree in heaven against Am Yisrael which he and his
congregation had not tipped the scales to annul. The youth reached the Schul
during the Neila (closing) Prayer. He did not know how to say
HASHEM-HASHEM-KAIL-ERECH-ARPAYIM-RAV-CHESSED V' EMMET ... instead he said in
this native language G-D you know that I don't know the prayers but I can
whistle let me whistle and you expect the prayers of mine as if I prayed in
Hebrew like the greatest Rabbi. The Congregation was ready to lynch the youth
but the Baal Shem Tov asked him to continue. It was then he said that scales
were tipped in favor of Am Yisrael by the whistling from the heart. Let me
advise all here that prayer is talking to G-D therefore if you are stuck with
the Hebrew pray in your native language with intent and feeling. (There is
another version which appears more logical to me that the youth held the prayer
book upside down and said, “L-RD, YOU know that I don’t know how to read your
holy prayers please accept this as if I could pray properly for I know not what
to say”.

This
story has a very personal and emotional effect on me. The date was Yom Kippur
5728; I was at the family Bungalow in Greenwood Lake, NY. I had hitched a ride
for Rosh Hashanah to the local Synagogue in town at the beginning of my return
to Judaism from nothing. However, these folks did not travel on Yom Kippur so I
was at home on the porch reading stories that Rabbi Klayman of the Ocean Ave.
Synagogue had lent me with his guiding hand for my “Bar Mitzvah” to take place
on my next birthday. Yom Kippur was too holy for my College Studies so I read
the “Torah as our Guide”. Rosh Hashanah had a great story of the Chevron (Chet –
guttural) Community and the 10th man on Rosh Hashanah and then the
story above about the youth and the Baal Shem Tov. When I finished the second
story, I was cryingas that the
youth in the story on that Yom Kippur was me!

And I
didn’t do it my way. (What seems to be bad can turn out eventually
good)

I could
not help the Shabbos before Pessach to reflect back on my life. For Erev
Shabbos, prior to Pessach, I learned that another of my friends from
kindergarten passed away. Considering that I lost contact with at least 95 to
98% of the children that grew up with me this was essentially was a big blow to
me. Marvin Reich a Dr. of Chemistry, a traditional Jew, who had done
Pharmaceutical research and had seen the world passed away without a wife or
child. A very shy book-worm who just did not know how to win women and influence
them despite being tall, handsome and with a nice salary he was survived by his
sister and family.

My
thoughts went back to the 6th grade when we parted ways but kept in
touch. I was one of the brighter children in the class and was supposed to take
the test for the Special Progress Class. Came along Larry with a pushy mother
and they threw me out of the test. I was angry and very so at my mother who did
not demand that I be tested or sue the school. But then hindsight is better than
foresight and perhaps the highway or the school of hard knocks was better than
my way.

Instead
of skipping a grade I was stuck in perhaps the brightest class but the school
put in a few trouble makers in my class for us to influence. Ace was one of
them. He was the fellow who sat 7 seats away from me in the row with orders to
copy off of my history and science tests. I would get a 95% and Carl would
change one answer to get a 90%, Arthur 85% until Ace got a 65% and nobody wanted
to be on the wrong side of his switchblade or Karate. There were other rough
characters in the class so the best fellows usually hung out together on our
lunch break. After a few months I tried out for the music class to get away from
them but got the trumpet which must have had some germs inside. Besides getting
sick, I did not have the lips for the instrument. My parents did not want to
hear me playing the noise in the house so after six months, I was back with Ace,
Danny and Frank. But on the other hand, my kleptomaniac friend Eldridge, stop
influencing me to for good on our breaks.

In the
8th grade along with other fellows from the class 8 of the 9 fellows
that tried made Brooklyn Technical High School and the reign of terror of Junior
High was over. I began to think what would have happened if I had gone to the SP
class and continued on with Marvin and the others. He went to Stuyvesant High
School and I most likely would have gone on to Bronx High School of Science. I
don’t know if I would have come across an Orthodox Jew. I would have finished
College a year earlier and maybe would have gone on to Viet Nam or married a
tolerant Protestant Girl or become a bit of a playboy.

Instead
I went to Brooklyn Tech., would meet through a friend in the Astronomy Club a
few more right wing Jews like my friend Howard Dyckoff would introduce me to his
mother who would convince me to make a Bar Mitzvah properly through an Orthodox
Rabbi. In turn, I would become a truly Frum Jew and leave the world of
assimilation and unlike a few friends, got married early so that by the time I
was 49, I was a grandfather.

All
this reflection taught me that sometimes the bitter pill and tougher life is the
better life. So today I am writing this Drasha instead of perhaps a J-Street
Blog or lost entirely to Judaism.

Information
from my son: Quinoa for Pessach. Last year I got a question regarding this and
did not know the answer. It seems that only one type of quinoa is kosher for
Pessach and it is the type that grows only in the mountains of Bolivia. It does
not mix with other species of grains.

1.
Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it
over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to
the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] would always
say these three things: Be cautious in judgment. Establish many pupils. And make
a safety fence around the Torah.

2.
Shimon the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly.
He would say: The world stands on three things: Torah, the service of G-d, and
deeds of kindness.

3.
Antignos of Socho received the tradition from Shimon the Righteous. He would
say: Do not be as slaves, who serve their master for the sake of reward. Rather,
be as slaves who serve their master not for the sake of reward. And the fear of
Heaven should be upon you.

4.
Yossei the son of Yoezer of Tzreidah, and Yossei the son of Yochanan of
Jerusalem, received the tradition from them. Yossei the son of Yoezer of
Tzreidah would say: Let your home be a meeting place for the wise; dust yourself
in the soil of their feet, and drink thirstily of their
words.

5.
Yossei the son of Yochanan of Jerusalem would say: Let your home be wide open,
and let the poor be members of your household. And do not engage in excessive
conversation with a woman. This is said even regarding one's own wife--how much
more so regarding the wife of another. Hence, the sages said: One who
excessively converses with a woman causes evil to himself, neglects the study of
Torah, and, in the end, inherits purgatory.

6.
Joshua the son of Perachia and Nitai the Arbelite received from them. Joshua the
son of Perachia would say: Assume for yourself a master, acquire for yourself a
friend, and judge every man to the side of merit.

7.
Nitai the Arbelite would say: Distance yourself from a bad neighbor, do not
cleave to a wicked person, and do not abandon belief in
retribution.

8.
Judah the son of Tabbai and Shimon the son of Shotach received from them. Judah
the son of Tabbai would say: When sitting in judgement, do not act as a
counselor-at-law. When the litigants stand before you, consider them both
guilty; and when they leave your courtroom, having accepted the judgement,
regard them as equally righteous.

9.
Shimon the son of Shotach would say: Increasingly cross-examine the witnesses.
Be careful with your words, lest they learn from them how to
lie.

10.
Shmaayah and Avtalyon received from them. Shmaayah would say: Love work, loath
mastery over others, and avoid intimacy with the
government.

11.
Avtalyon would say: Scholars, be careful with your words. For you may be exiled
to a place inhabited by evil elements [who will distort your words to suit their
negative purposes]. The disciples who come after you will then drink of these
evil waters and be destroyed, and the Name of Heaven will be
desecrated.

12.
Hillel and Shammai received from them. Hillel would say: Be of the disciples of
Aaron--a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace, one who loves the creatures and
draws them close to Torah.

13.
He would also say: One who advances his name, destroys his name. One who does
not increase, diminishes. One who does not learn is deserving of death. And one
who make personal use of the crown of Torah shall
perish.

14.
He would also say: If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for
myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

15.
Shammai would say: Make your Torah study a permanent fixture of your life. Say
little and do much. And receive every man with a pleasant
countenance.

16.
Rabban Gamliel would say: Assume for yourself a master; stay away from doubt;
and do not accustom yourself to tithe by estimation.

17.
His son, Shimon, would say: All my life I have been raised among the wise, and I
have found nothing better for the body than silence. The essential thing is not
study, but deed. And one who speaks excessively brings on
sin.

18.
Rabbi Shimon the son of Gamliel would say: By three things is the world
sustained: law, truth and peace. As is stated (Zachariah 8:16), "Truth, and a
judgement of peace, you should administer at your [city] gates.''

Besides the genocide
on 1.5 to 1,800,000 Armenians in 1917; Reuven K. reminded me of this:
This
is from Primawan Mardianto, posting on the Prophecy Forum 2013, on Facebook.
HOWEVER, THIS IS HISTORY, NOT PROPHECY. Whenever you see some whiny pack of BS
about "Israelis guilty of ethnic cleansing" or any other such garbage about
"Israel being a war Criminal", REMEMBER WHAT THE TURKS DID TO SMYRNA! AND
REMEMBER THE RESPONSE OF THE SO-CALLED "CIVILIZED WEST"!!!Primawan
MardiantoSMYRNAThough
a minor statistic compared to systematic genocides committed in India, Persia
and in various other countries, Smyrna was in some ways unique. The torching of
that Greek city, now renamed Izmir (Turkey), and the massacre and dispersal of
its 300,000 citizens was probably the worst single atrocity committed in the
name of Allah, at least considering the brief period of its commission, a matter
of only five days. As such, it deserves separate treatment from the thousands of
other acts of Muslim genocide. It was also one of the best documented of the
20th Century, as it was observed by Diplomats and Naval Officers of four Western
nations, France, England, Italy, and the United States. Twenty-seven warships of
those countries were anchored in the bay of the city, including three American
Destroyers. This
was an ethnic cleansing ordered in September of 1922 by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk),
the founder of modern Turkey. The approaching genocide was known well in advance
by the Western Powers. The Naval Forces present were under orders to not
intervene, to protect trade interests with Turkey. They were present only to
evacuate diplomats and other important citizens of their respective governments.
. The
City had been founded in 3,000 B.C., and was later restored by Alexander the
Great. Previously to the massacre, Smyrna had been a cosmopolitan Greek seaport
on the Aegean Coast of what is present day Turkey, with a bustling economy,
attractive shops, and a busy social life. Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived
there in comparative peace. Christians and Jews accounted for a sizable part of
the population; they also accounted for the larger number of the 200,000 killed,
between the 9th and 13th of September. The
city fell to Turkish forces on September 9th, and looting, rape, and murder
began immediately. This escalated on the following three days, and culminated
with the burning of the city on the 13th. The carnage along the seafront then
began. With flamesand
bayonets on one side, and the sea on the other, the inhabitants were
systematically slaughtered. In his book, "Greek Fire", by Nicholas Gage, he
describes the scene."The
pitiful throng---huddled together, sometimes screaming for help but mostly
waiting in a silent panic beyond hope---didn't budge for days. Typhoid reduced
their numbers, and there was no way to dispose of the dead. Occasionally, a
person would swim from the dock to one of the anchored ships and try to climb
the ropes and chains, only to be driven off. On the American ships, the
musicians aboard were ordered to play as loudly as they could to drown out the
screams of the pleading swimmers. The English poured boiling water down on the
unfortunates who reached their vessels. The harbor was so clogged with corpses
that the officers of the foreign battleships were often late to their dinner
appointments because bodies would get tangled in the propellers of their
launches.....A cluster of women's heads bound together like coconuts by their
long hair floated down a river toward the harbor." This
was, for all effects, the end of Christianity in Asia Minor.

Kosher
Alert from the OU: Aicha - White Truffles
Champignons Terfess MislabelingConsumers
of this OU-P product should verify that the letters "DA" and "RDSL" are part of
the ink-jet code that appears on the top of the can. If the letters "DA"
and "RDSL" are not included in the code, the product is not certified by the
Orthodox Union.

All my
friends who are Breslov Chassidim could not believe the story of Rav Berland
both men and women and were in shock. Perkei Avos -Chapter2 Mishnah 4. He (Hillel) would also say: Make
that His will should be your will, so that He should make your will to be as His
will. Nullify your will before His will, so that He should nullify the will of
others before your will.

Hillel
would say: Do not separate yourself from the community. Do not believe in
yourself until the day you die. Do not judge your fellow until you have stood in
his place. Do not say something that is not readily understood in the belief
that it will ultimately be understood [or: Do not say something that ought not
to be heard even in the strictest confidence, for ultimately it will be heard].
And do not say "When I free myself of my concerns, I will study,'' for perhaps
you will never free yourself.

I
too have a Yetzer HaRa and don’t trust that I will not sin even though I haven’t
but it is a battle and anyone who says otherwise is probably a liar or a Eunuch.

My friend Ruth who is fighting abuse of
pedophiles and other who attach women wrote me from Yerushalayim: Since
allegations of sexual assault by Bratslav Rabbi Eliezer Berland have come to
light, some families have left the community!A disciple of Rabbi Eliezer
Berland, who recently ended contact with him, says: "There is the hard core,
which does not believe that anything happened. Even if the rabbi were to confess
to the actions he's accused of under interrogation, even if you were to show
them video documentation of what [is alleged to have] occurred - they would not
abandon him. They will say: There is a secret here, it is hard to 'attain'
[i.e., understand] the rabbi. Or [members of his community] will say: He did
these things intentionally, because harsh 'precepts' [divine punishment] are
pending against the people of Israel, and if the rabbi acts contemptibly, he can
prevent a future holocaust. There are also those who are convinced that they
slipped Ecstasy into the rabbi's medications, without his knowledge. These are
excuses that can serve forever."

Indeed,
most members of the Shuvu Banim community, an insular group of newly religious
believers belonging to the Bratslav Hasidim, have remained loyal to Berland.
Among the hundreds of families in the community, the vast majority have remained
with the rabbi and are loyal to the educational institutions of the community.
Lately, however, with the growing evidence of sexual assaults - evidence that
began to emerge with the filing of complaints by individual women that followed
publication of an initial accusation by a disciple who claimed to have witnessed
the rabbi having sex with a woman from the community - there has been a change.
Some 20 families, hardly a negligible number, decided in recent months to leave
the fold. Dozens more have begun to distance themselves from the rabbi, and are
gradually moving closer to his son, Rabbi Nachman Berland, who heads a branch of
the community in Betar Illit, just outside of Jerusalem. Nachman has long been
considered his father's successor, although rivalry and intrigue are palpable
between the two men.

Shuvu
Banim, founded in the late 1970s, has a yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter of
Jerusalem's Old City. Most of the group's members live on a single street on the
outskirts of Mea Shaarim, or in the branch in Betar Illit. Rabbi Berland has
boasted of his relations with crime families, but over the years police and army
officers have also been regular visitors to his chambers.

The
community operates on the fringes of Charedi society, and many ultra-Orthodox
take exception to Berland's directives to his disciples to take risks (such as
driving at excessive speeds to the graves of Tzaddikim - holy men - or,
specifically, to infiltrate Nablus in order to visit Joseph's tomb), and to
undergo purification that involves personal humiliation.

Nonetheless,
in recent years Berland has been granted increased legitimacy in certain
rabbinic circles. The ultra-Orthodox world, which always treated him with
suspicion, also began to embrace him. Berland had the privilege in recent
months, for example, of sitting at one of the tables of honor at the main Siyum
HaShas ceremony (marking completion of a full cycle of daily Talmud study ) held
by the United Torah Judaism party ), and at the same party's most important
election rally.

Nonetheless,
the testimony against Berland that is now coming to light has the Charedi world,
and in particular the Shuvu Banim community, in an uproar. No less shocking than
the criminal aspect of the matter is the fact that sexual asceticism is one of
the main spiritual foundations that Berland preaches - and in this case he was
apparently caught red-handed.

This
scandal comes on the heels of a stormy series of events that has been ongoing
since late 2010; indeed, it turns out that allegations of sexual assault by him
were already being made back then. Berland previously staged a sort of "coup"
against his wife, son and members of his court, when he allowed publication of
his claim that they were confining him against his will, seeking to have him
committed, and denying him contact with his disciples.

The
rabbi, as part of his revolt, managed to elude, with the aid of a handful of
loyalists, the security guards keeping watch over his house, and announced that
he had escaped from captivity. Meanwhile, video clips came to light in which his
son and grandson are documented in conversations acknowledging that they were
exploiting him. A while later, the rabbi reconciled with his family, but the
community was left traumatized and divided. Many left, the rabbi fell into debt,
and about a year ago several of his senior disciples, including businessman Eran
Hochberg (a former youth chess champion ) and Binyamin Ze'evi (son of the late
politician and government minister Rehavam Ze'evi ), also jumped ship.

The
speculation within the community is that the allegations of sexual harassment
reached his wife, Tehilla Berland, and son Nachman even before they became
public knowledge. For that reason, sources say, the pair sought to keep him out
of the public eye, as Eliezer Berland himself has charged.

The Gemara explains that one of the reasons the Jewish people were
threatened with annihilation – Heaven forfend – during the time of the Purim
story was because “they derived pleasure from the banquet of that evil person
[King Achashveirosh].” The text indicates that it was not because of our
attendance at the banquet – which was mandatory, and moreover the food and
drink served was kosher - that the harsh decree came about. Rather it was
because we “derived pleasure.” What was it about deriving pleasure from
this banquet that was so appalling that it nearly resulted in the destruction
not only of those who attended, but even of those who were not
invited?The
Great ShepherdOur Sages liken the existence of the Jewish people in times of exile
to a “solitary sheep that finds itself surrounded by 70 wolves.” Thus, “great is
the Shepherd who protects and guards His flock.” Consequently, the continued
existence of the Jewish people is sometimes dependent upon miraculous means –
the watchful eye of the “Great Shepherd.” The Jewish people are assured of
G-d’s protection only when our conduct is consonant with relying on Him for
protection. However, when we choose to rely entirely on natural means – on one
or more of the “70 wolves” – then we remove them from His divine
protection and place ourselves at the mercy of natural
forces.

The
Cause of the Decree

The reason our “pleasure” was the cause of such a terrible decree will be
understood accordingly: It was not punishment for a sin, but rather the natural
consequence of our conduct. After the king had elevated the evil and
anti-Semitic Haman to a position of exceptional power, the situation of the
Jewish people was similar to that of the “solitary sheep that finds itself
surrounded by 70 wolves.” At the same time, our conduct – “deriving pleasure…” –
forfeited miraculous protection. For this invitation to the feast was so
important to the Jews of that time, they were so extremely honored by the
invitation, that it caused them a great deal of pleasure. Thus they partook not
because they had no choice, but because of their delight in being
invited.Since the Jewish people themselves gave credence to one of the “70
wolves” and took pleasure in being invited by “that evil person,” they annulled
their supernatural guardianship. Instead, they placed themselves at the
(natural) mercy of the “70 wolves” – something that threatened the continued
existence of the solitary sheep.

Wholly
Dependent of
G-d

It is true that while the Jews are under the dominion of another nation
they are obligated to honor that nation, obey its laws, and pray for that
country’s peace and welfare. Thus, when King Achashveirosh invited the Jews
to attend the feast, they were compelled to do so. Nevertheless, they
should have understood that the existence of the Jewish people is not at all
contingent on any king of flesh and blood, but wholly dependent on G-d.
Moreover, the ongoing existence of the Jews is a miracle clothed in the garments
of nature – “great is the Shepherd” who guards us in a manner that transcends
the world.Thus, their pleasure that so important an evil person as King
Achashveirosh – upon whom they felt their lives depended – invited them to a
meal, indicated that they had forsaken their trust in G-d and had placed their
faith in the hands of one of the “wolves.”

Purim
is Unique

This also helps us understand why Purim is unique among all the Festivals
that celebrate G-d’s miracles on our behalf, in that it commemorates a miracle
that was completely clothed in nature. The reason for this is as
explained. Since the evil decree came about because the Jewish people chose to
rely totally on the forces of nature, the Purim miracle therefore revealed,
within nature, that G-d’s conduct with the Jews – even as they exist in the
natural realm – is truly above and beyond the
natural.Based
on Likkutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Vol. XXXI, pp. 170-174. The
Chassidic Dimension – Volume 4; reprinted with permission from Sichos in
English

Moshiach
and Gog & Magog News If
we Jews are not doing our role, then all the prophesies in the world will not
bring Moshiach – Devorah L.

Lebanese
& Syrian Border: The Israeli Intelligence has to penetrate Al Qaeda there.
It seems that the free Syrian Army is OK but the others one does not know what
they are up to and since they used homicide trucks in Damascus they might try on
our borders or to break through the fence and then more explosive trucks to kill
our soldiers. One night the intelligence knows that certain generals or a
general is in charge of command and the next day he is blown up or shot by the
rebels. Then there are the Chetznian terrorist training British Born, Belgium
and Holland Jihadists to go fight with them and return to Europe. The whole
situation is scary. Combine this with the weapons from Russia going through
Syria and ending up in Iran and returning other Iranian weapons and soldiers to
Assad and Hezballah. The whole situation is very fluid and nobody knows what is
going on with 100% certain on the WMD of Syria and if it is being transferred to
Hezballah.

The
Sea Border: The Israeli Navy needs 2.5 billion in updates of ships to protect
our new oil and gas fields. Only available funds will be 750 million so we will
be a few ships short. If Syria falls and Hezballah gets their hands on the Navy
they could become a great danger to the oil wells and our
Navy.

Yarden
& Yehuda plus the Shomron: Right now it does not look like a massive
intifada in the Shomron. There is unrest and the youths are trying to pull more
and more people into it and stone throwing along with Molotov Cocktails but not
the massive uprisings that were in the past. They are trying new and more tricks
on the world stage and going with the King of Yarden but it will not help. Al
Qaeda is infiltrating via Iraq and Syria with the influx of refugees which total
now between 4 - 500,000! The terrorist are free to wander from town to town in
Yarden and are trying infiltrating Yisrael and the Shomron. The King also has
his hands full with the Arab Spring and is not in the most stable of
positions.

Egypt
(Mitzrayim) and Gaza: Egypt with the advice of the Army to Morsi has the current
interest to subdue Al Qaeda in the Sinai as it poses a threat to the Muslim
Brotherhood and also keeping tabs on Hamas in Gaza. Tribes of extreme Al Qaeda
supporters are being flushed out and tunnels into Gaza flooded but not all the
time with success as more and more tunnels pop up. There is still a desire to
get through, under or over the new southern border fence and the army has to be
on constant alert. In my day it was smuggling of drugs and human trafficking but
now it is more dangerous.

APRIL
7TH HAS BEEN DESIGNATED BY THE ARABS FOR A MASSIVE CYBERATTACK ON
JEWS AND ISRAEL FACILITIES VIA THE INTERNET. THE FIRST PRECUSSOR TO THIS ATTACK
WAS ON FACEBOOK ON APRIL3RD.

This week people are
asking: What happened to Bennett, and the National
Religious Party? In the middle of the night the Netanyahu Goons removed the Aish
Kodesh settlement. Perhaps next
week, I will go into the Bible Codes on this as it involves internal politics.
When and where is the building in E1????????????? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166694

Egypt
has given Israel insurance that Hamas is arresting the extremists who sent the
last bunch of rockets and mortars as they have gotten the message that Israel is
no longer going to tolerate nonsense from the south as evidenced by the public
knowledge from a cabinet meeting.

Why
President Obama’s Concept of the Middle East Will Fail: Just Listen to It by
Barry Rubin

To
put it plainly, the press briefing supposed to indicate how President Barack
Obama’s thinks about Israel on the eve of his trip here, is a combination of
fantasy and insult. It may well that the Obama Administration did not mean this
to be taken seriously, that the statements were made for show, to persuade the
Arabic-speaking world that the United States is striving for peace and using its
influence to change Israeli policy even as it does nothing of the
sort.

Yet
the premises on which this argument is based can be described as believing that
what the Arab public really wants is progress toward peace with Israel and that
the United States sees the ball as being in Israel’s–not the Arabs–court. The
other is a strange hint that Washington has suddenly realized what Israel has
understood since the beginning–that the “Arab Spring” isn’t going well. Now it
feels the need to explain to Israeli leaders what they have long known, and give
bad advice on what to do about it.

“U.S.
President Barack
Obama will
not be bringing a peace plan to Israel, but he will try to convince Prime
Minister Benjamin and the Israeli public that after the Arab
Spring, Israel cannot
depend on autocrats holding everything together in the
region..”

Here’s
a president arriving at a moment when Israelis think the region is falling
apart, with old autocrats being replaced by new ones and a more hostile
environment, and the message is: You shouldn’t be complacent that everything is
great?

Where
does this come from? It is the American conception that the “Arab Spring” is a
great thing, that old autocrats are falling and will be replaced by more
democratic and moderate regimes. That is American; not Israeli
thinking.

If
that theme is based on fantasy, the second theme is insulting. Here is the
second paragraph of Benhorin’s analysis:

“The
U.S. believes that Israel must show it is serious about its peace efforts. It
must convince the general Arab public, if nothing more than to maintain Israel’s
peace treaty with Egypt.”

These
are Benhorin’s words, not Rhodes’ exact formulations. But I think Benhorin reads
the message properly.

Let’s
begin by discussing the idea that Israel must persuade the Arab
public:

–The
question should be posed as this: When will the Arab public, or Arab
governments, show Israel they are serious about peace? In 2009 when Obama sought
such assurances and demonstrations he was turned down flat. We know it and he
should know it.

–How
long a list do you want of the times Israel has shown the Arab public that it
wants peace seriously?

–Do
you think the Arab public cares or is going to be persuaded by any such
behavior?

–Hundreds
of Israelis died in the 1993-2000 period in the effort to show the Arab public
Israel was serious about peace.

The
idea that Israel needs to persuade its neighbors to accept its existence is a
line we have heard almost daily since the 1980s or even 1970s. Yet curiously the
Arab street pays no attention to the scores of such Israeli gestures and the
West soon forgets each one. And indeed Obama has forgotten those that took place
during his first term, for example the nine-month-long settlement construction
freeze, just as before that were forgotten the Oslo agreement, Israeli
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the 2000 Camp David offer (including the offer
to redivide Jerusalem!) and many more. [See Footnote, below]

Guess
what? If today Israel were to make a huge new concession, six months from now
that would be forgotten in the West, which would also forget that there was no
considerable Arab response. Israelis know this and so saying this kind of thing
about Israel proving its decent intentions can only fall with a cynical thud.
Such statements remind Israelis why they are NOT rushing to make new concessions
or take new risks.

Note,
too, that Western and European promises to give Israel a big reward if Israel
takes a big risk or makes a big concession and the Arab side doesn’t respond
have also been repeatedly broken.

What
Obama is in effect saying is “Mr. Netanyahu, tear down that [security,
counterterrorist] wall.” When he should be saying to the other side: “Mr. Abbas,
Mursi, et. al., tear down that wall of hatred against Israel!”

Of
course, he won’t do so because that would make the Arab leaders and publics mad,
not because they want Israel to move faster on peace or seek a better deal but
because they don’t want peace at all. And the Islamists coming into
power have no intention of tearing down the wall. In fact, they are building it
higher than ever. And there’s nothing–absolutely nothing–Israel can do to change
the course of events in that respect.

Moreover,
in a context where the same point is not made loudly, clearly, and publicly to
the Palestinian Authority, the idea that the burden is on Israel to prove its
peace credentials is a veiled way of Obama saying–and signaling to his
supporters–that Israel is responsible for the failure to achieve
peace.

The
very fact that Obama’s visit is not about seeking to impose peace or even to
press the issue. But why? The Obama Administration isn’t being honest about
this. The reason is that the White House knows that such an effort will go
nowhere. And it also not because of Netanyahu. After all, how well did six
predecessors do in solving this problem? Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud
Barak, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, and Tsipi Livni. Even if one can claim they
all tried harder than Netanyahu why did they all fail?

While
the ideas on the “peace process” show the problem with U.S. thinking on that
issue, the idea on the direction being taken by the region shows the wider
miasma of fantasy that surrounds U.S. policy.

This
idea that Israel cannot depend on autocracies to maintain the status quo
parallels Obama’s view for U.S. policy: that to protect the region’s stability,
the United States must show its desire for good relations and the fulfillment of
Arab and Muslim dreams by helping force out pro-American authoritarian regimes
and to substitute for them (anti-American) Islamist authoritarian
regimes.

Ladies
and gentlemen, it is not 1980. Does Israel not understand that the region is
already overwhelmingly ruled by autocracies hostile to itself? Here is the list:
Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and
Iran, in particular. And one can add Tunisia and Turkey were elections do mean
something.

What
does Obama intend to convey by this idea? It seems as if he is saying: You
better act now while the relatively friendly dictator Bashar al-Assad is running
Syria before the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists take power! But that is
absurd. How about: You better act now before we pass the window of
opportunity of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood regime being eager for
comprehensive peace with Israel? You better act fast before Hamas (which rules
the Gaza Strip) and Hizballah (which rules Lebanon) change to a more hostile
attitude?

What
better time to make risky concessions than when the security situation is
deteriorating and the new rulers of your neighbors are baying for your
blood?

At
any rate, the old autocrats are already gone for all practical purposes. The
U.S. idea is an outdated one: Don’t depend on being nice to Mubarak because one
day he could be overthrown and there will come a pharoah who knows not Joseph.
Thanks, but that’s already happened and you helped bring about that
problem.

Thus,
Israel must prove that it is a nice guy to…the Muslim Brotherhood? The nonsense
involved is clear when the concept is stated plainly.

In
Jewish history this concept translates, for example, into saying that the Jews
shouldn’t put all their eggs in the basket of the Weimar Republic because it had
just been overthrown by the Nazis, so the Jews had to prove to them that they
wanted good relations. (I apologize for the over-used Nazi reference but it is
appropriate to explain the situation.)

The
problem is that the United States is under the illusion that even the United
States can make friends with Islamist regimes. How all-the-more ridiculous is it
to claim that Israel can do so by concessions or gestures? How can anyone with a
straight face suggest that if Israel shows progress on negotiations with the
Palestinians that regimes which have sworn to wipe it off the map will change
their minds?

Rhodes
added that in particular progress on the peace process required that Israel show
Egypt it should keep the peace treaty by making concessions to the Palestinians.
Perhaps Egypt should keep the treaty because it is an international agreement it
is required to keep. Or that it is in Egypt’s interests because Israel and the
United States would make Cairo sorry if it abandoned the treaty completely.
Notice that only concessions–not toughness, deterrence, or credibility–are a
tool to keep treaties.

In
these circumstances, a phrase often comes to my mind: Just because you are
stupid, why should I kill myself?

Yes,
it is intemperate of me to call these people stupid but they leave me no choice.
Who does the Egyptian government support among the Palestinians? Hamas, despite
their recent bickering. So how would progress on negotiations with the
Palestinian Authority soften Egypt’s attitude? Is President Mursi going to say:
Wow, that treaty with Israel is worthwhile because there is hope of a deal with
the Palestinians that will ensure a non-Islamist government in Palestine and
help to guarantee the existence of a Zionist state in the region?
Yay!

No.
He would say that such progress would indicate a betrayal by the PA and make it
harder for the Islamist cause to flourish. Hence, any such deal must be
stopped. Mr. Rhodes, let me explain. It was Mubarak who perhaps benefited from
an advancing peace process; Mursi hates the idea.

Rhodes
continued:

“I
think there’s an opportunity, frankly, for there to be a deeper source of
support for peace broadly across the region if there can be
progress.”

I
will give Rhodes the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that he does not believe
one word of that sentence.

Again,
Obama’s trip is not about this issue. Yet by keeping the mythology alive about
the state of the conflict the Obama Administration does another disservice to
Israeli interests and American understanding of the region.

Oh,
and let’s not forget something else.

Rhodes
didn’t say that the PA, whose leaders Obama will also meet, must show Israel
that it’s serious about peace. Supposedly, making peace is a one-way street in
which the burden is always on Israel. Yet Israel’s behavior is not due to
stubbornness, paranoia, or ideology.

It is
based on experience.

Footnotes:
Of course I am aware that there have been circumstances in which specific Arab
factors were responsive to Israeli concessions. To act Arab
leaders–autocrats or otherwise–must believe they can get away with defying
Islamists, who will declare anyone wanting to make peace with Israel as enemies
of Allah. That was most obviously true of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
Mursi’s ideological compatriots killed Sadat. That graphically sums up who is on
which side and why Rhodes’, and hence the Obama Administration’s, formulations
are absurd.